


Haunted

by TheBlueDayDream



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, James Sirius is an Auror, OCs in here guys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23127916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlueDayDream/pseuds/TheBlueDayDream
Summary: She doesn't believe in things like fate or meant-to-be, but she does believe in second chances, even if she knows that she deserves none. Not that a second chance with him would ever be easy - love is difficult even under the best of circumstances and with a criminal organization threatening to undo the very foundation of their world, it certainly is anything but the best circumstance.
Relationships: James Sirius Potter/Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize in here, as it all belongs to the amazing J.K. Rowling.

Francesca had been awake for almost 36 hours.

Her shift should have ended hours ago, but she was covering for a friend who had been sick for several days. This was her third strengthening solution and she already found herself longing for the warm comfort of her bed when she was finally free to go.

"No offense, Franny, but you look like hell," her friend and coworker, Andrea Peyton, remarked as she entered the staff room, bringing with her the smell of potion and vomit. Andrea grimaced as she sat down.

"Not sleeping tend to do that to you," Francesca sighed, rubbing her temple. "Trouble with your patient?"

"A nightmare, I tell you. I'll be glad when that guy's discharged. Talk about being difficult! Do you know that---"

But whatever it was that Andrea was about to say was cut short by the alarm coming from her wrist band. It was flashing red, which meant that Francesca had an emergency coming in.

"Got to go, An," she said, grabbing her wand and ran out of the room. Francesca could feel the solution working its magic through her veins, though she knew her renewed strength would only last for a few hours at most. She sincerely hoped, both for her and the patient's sake, that the emergency was nothing too life threatening.

"Healer Wood!" one of the apprentices exclaimed, transparent relief adorning his face at her arrival. He was examining a man lying unconscious on one of the magical beds, surrounded by a team of aurors who seemed to have sustained only minor injuries. Francesca's eyes swept over a familiar face and for a moment her heart stopped beating altogether, before she forced her focus back to the emergency at hand.

"What's the situation here?" she asked the apprentice, leaving the question of the presence of the aurors unsaid.

"Broken ribs, arms and legs. The stab wound in his stomach could be lethal, but what is most threatening at this moment is the poison. I don't know what it is exactly, but-"

"Prepare the room for surgery, now!" she barked at the other apprentices as they hurried to levitate the bed towards the surgery room. As Francesca made to follow them, she was held back by one of the aurors.

Dennis Creevey. He used to tell her storied about the Giant Squid during the many reunion dinners her parents dragged her to.

"Healer Wood, I need to have a word with you," he said, while directing two other Aurors to follow the unconscious man to the surgery room.

"Auror Creevey, I have a surgery to perform-"

"This is important!" he hissed sharply, and without waiting for her reply, he continued on, "That man is in league with the last of Voldermort's Death Eaters. He has important information that is crucial to our investigation. You have to heal him no matter the cost, Healer Wood!"

"I'll do my best," she said, before setting off after the apprentices, trying to erase all thoughts of exactly how much was at stake here. She couldn't let herself be compromised at a moment like this. As her teacher for Emotional control had said, "lose your head and you'll lose your patient".

And criminal or not, this man was first and foremost her patient.

* * *

The surgery lasted for several hours. At one point, Francesca could feel the Strengthening Solution waning away in her body, but she pressed on, pouring everything she had got into saving this man's life. In this room, he was another person whose life depended on her. She didn't, and couldn't, care about what he had done or the people he was affiliated with.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Francesca let out a sigh of relief as the apprentices wheeled the man out of the surgery room. Her body felt weak, like it could collapse at any moment. Her shift had ended hours ago and the only thing Francesca wanted right now was to go home.

But judging from the faces of the aurors waiting for her outside, that would have to wait.

"He'll live," she said flatly as she made her way out. "It was a nasty poison, but we managed to find an antidote. I would advise against questioning him now, though. It would take at least a few hours until he regains consciousness and even then, he would have some trouble with his cognitive ability."

Dennis nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Healer Wood."

"I'm just doing my job."

"Sir, we need to move him to HQ!"

"You can't move him now!" Francesca cut in sharply, glaring at the auror who had spoken up. "The immediate danger is gone, but he's not healed and we need to make sure that nothing will happen. He has to stay here!"

The auror's face was red as he returned her glare in full force. "I hardly think you have the authority to---"

"This is St. Mungo's, not your damn HQ! You'll find that I do have the authority to decide what is best for my patient. I suggest that you listen to what I have to say, unless you want a dead suspect on your hand!" Francesca hissed, her eyes narrowing menacingly as she stepped closer to the auror.

She had been on her feet for 36 hours, she was exhausted and she had just been inches away from losing a patient. The last thing she needed was having to deal with some insolent auror who thought he could step all over her.

"Why you---!" the auror started, pulling out his wand. Warning bells went off inside her head. Around them, Healer and apprentices had stopped what they were doing and eyed the scene warily.

"That's enough!" a familiar voice cut in and it took everything Francesca had to not jump at the sight of James Potter's back as he planted himself firmly between her and the auror. The lines of his shoulders were taught and there was something dangerous in his voice that Francesca was glad was not directed at her.

"Jackson, stand down! Or do you want to spend the night in a cell?" Dennis barked, voice thundering.

The threat was enough to snap Jackson out of his spell. He scowled, retracted his wand and backed away.

"I…I lost myself. My apologies, sir…" he hesitated for a moment as his eyes flitted towards Francesca, then added, "Healer Wood."

She nodded, though the fingers inside the pocket of her robes continued to grip her wand.

"You better be," James muttered, shoulders still tense as he stepped away. Francesca chanced a fleeting look at his face, to find that it had settled into his cool mask once again.

"We've had a long night," Dennis said, a note of finality in his voice. "Jackson, Abbey, you're on guard duty. Potter, report back to HQ. I'll be there in a moment."

There was a chorus of "Yes, sir!" as the small band of aurors dispersed. Francesca's eyes lingered on James's retreating back for a moment, before her attention was commanded by Creevy.

"Healer Wood, I need to discuss with you about Moses' security details and how long he'll have to remain here. I trust we can do this in your office?"

"Ah, yes, of course," she replied hurriedly.

The faster this was over, the sooner she could get home and sleep. Not that sleep would come easy, not after seeing him again tonight.

* * *

An owl arrived at noon the next day, bearing a letter informing her that Gabe Moses had regained consciousness and that her presence was required. Her next shift wasn't until late this afternoon, but Francesca knew that she needed to be there. Auror Creevy had emphasized that they wanted to limit the number of Healers and nurses taking care of Moses to as few as possible, for the sake of security and the safety of the staff.

Francesca understood and agreed with his decision. Hers was the line of work that required sacrifices for the good of others.

With that thought in mind, she quickly showered and made herself lunch as she mentally recounted the tasks she had to do this afternoon. There were rounds to make, surgeries to perform and who knew what else would come through the ER tonight. She was in for a busy day at work.

"Just another day at the office," Francesca muttered to herself, grimacing. At least she had moved out of her mother's house - otherwise, she would have to deal with her fussing mother on top of everything else.

Francesca loved her mother, but her never ending streams of "You're not taking good enough care of yourself!", "You should eat more!" and "You'll keel over from exhaustion before you're 30!" got tiring after a while. Two years living in Canada had made her forgot just how…frustrating it was to be living under the same roof with her mother again and her stepfather was no help. The man tended to make himself scarce whenever her mother started narrowing her eyes at Francesca after she got home from a long shift.

And honestly, Francesca couldn't blame him.

All in all, it was a relief when she finally got her own place and moved out after staying there for three months. The flat she was currently staying in was small and the neighbors could stir up quite a racket, but Francesca wasn't too bothered. She rarely stayed home as it was and when she did, she was too tired to care about anything else. The location couldn't be better - the building was close to St. Mungo's, which meant that she could walk to work instead of having to Apparate, which she detested.

Looking around the apartment, she made a mental note to put away a bit of time this weekend to clean up. Francesca hadn't the time to unpack everything and as a result, there were still boxes strewn about the room.

She didn't allow her thoughts to linger too long on the unkempt state of her apartment, though. There were patients waiting for her and (her heart leaped to her throat at the thought) one James Potter whom she might have to face again.

Francesca arrived at St. Mungo's around one to a busy reception area. The hospital was a place that never rested, because the hurt and injured did not appear just from 5 to 9. As Francesca went towards the staff room, healers and apprentices bustled around her, tending to sick patients, delivering potions or directing visitors towards the correct wards. There were a few who stopped what they were doing and stared at her, no doubt having heard about what had transgressed last night outside of surgery. Francesca grimaced.

"Well, don't you look happy this afternoon," Andrea remarked as she went into the staff room to change. "Back so soon, honey?"

"There's a special patient I need to attend to," Francesca replied, pulling on her Healer's robe and tied her long, dark hair into a pony tail.

"Fran, is it true that you were dueling with an auror last night? Everyone's talking about it!" Blake Hawkins asked eagerly once he spotted her.

"My life's not that exciting," Francesca said replied shortly as she look through the list of patients she needed to attend to that afternoon. "Well, I'm off. See you guys!"

There were two aurors stationed outside of Moses' room when she arrived, one of them James Potter. Francesca mentally cursed - it seemed that she would be running into him quite often during the next few days, at least until Moses had recovered enough to be checked out of St. Mungo's.

Just what I need, she thought.

"Wand, please," the other auror said, holding out his hand for her wand. Francesca complied, having been informed by Dennis about the procedure. While he checked her wand, she turned towards James.

"Auror Potter, thank you for what you did last night," she said, satisfied with the way her voice remained carefully neutral. As far as anyone knew, she was just expressing her gratitude to the auror who had protected her last night, nothing more, nothing less.

"I was just doing my job. Jackson was out of line," James replied, then added a small smile at the end of his sentence. Francesca knew the smile well - it was the polite, superficial kind that he had developed after becoming an auror.

Something inside her ached at the thought that she was now the recipient of that smile from him, but knew that she deserved no less.

"Still, the situation could have turned ugly if it wasn't for…ah, thank you! Good to have this back!" The last part was directed towards the other auror, who had dutifully returned her wand and gestured for her to come inside.

Gabe Moses was awake on his bed when she walked in, his eyes trained at the ceiling. His skin was still a pasty color and Francesca was unhappy to note that he was covered in a thin sheen of sweats. It wasn't a good sign.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Moses. I'm Healer Wood and I'll be in charge of you during your stay at St. Mungo's. If there's anything wrong…if you're feeling any sort of discomfort, don't hesitate to inform me about it," she said, repeating the words that she had relayed thousands of times before.

His eyes flitted to her for one moment before returned to the ceiling. She hadn't expected any less.

"I'm going to perform the daily check-up now," she informed him as she moved closer to his bed, pulling out her wand in the process. Francesca had performed this spell so many times by now that she didn't need to say the incantation aloud.

"So far so good…You're healing up nicely, Mr. Moses. Although I do recommend against any taxing activities---"

What happened next was too fast for her to follow. One moment she had her wand hovering above his arm to check for any lingering sign of damage and the next, her back was pressed against his chest, his arm tight around her throat and her wand pushed painfully into the tender skin of her neck.

Francesca stilled completely, heart hammering inside her chest. She hated the cold fear that had taken a grip over her body, but she couldn't help it. No Defense Against the Dark Arts classes could have prepared her for something like this. Despite the amount of blood and deaths that she came into close contact with every day, hers was a safe job - Healers stayed behind, tending to the wounded, not engaging in any real danger.

"Drop it, drop your wands or she'll be dead faster than you can say Stupefy!" Moses barked, glaring at the aurors who now had their wands trained on him and similar murderous expressions on their face.

"Release her right now, or so help me---" James hissed, a wild look in his eyes that she had never seen before. In fact, this entire side of him - dangerous and tightly coiled, like a predator waiting to pounce - was new to her.

"You'll do nothing! You aurors are all talk - you wouldn't be so stupid as to get this pretty little Healer caught in the cross fire," Moses sneered, tightening his hold on her throat to the point that it became difficult for Francesca to breath. "Now, drop them before I choke the life out of her! It won't be pretty, I'll tell you that."

Francesca clawed at the vice-like grip around her neck, but it was to no avail. Moses was surprisingly strong for someone who had just regained his consciousness after a seven-hour-surgery. At this point, he might suffocate her before the aurors could do anything about it.

"Alright, alright!" the other auror snapped, lowering his wand. "We'll do what you want, just…just ease up on her…"

James said nothing, but he mimicked his partner's movement as well, his eyes never straying from Moses. Francesca had an inkling that he was deliberately trying not to look at her, but decided that she couldn't focus on that. There were two aurors in the room, but Moses was right - they would be reluctant to try anything that might harm her. Even if they weren't, it was her life on the line and she would be damned if she went down without a fight.

Tuning out of the conversation going on around her, Francesca dropped her hands from Moses' grip and subtly inserted them into the pockets of her robes. She silently thanked the aurors for keeping Moses occupied - she didn't think he would take kindly to her fishing around her pockets even when she was, as he assumed, unarmed.

And she was, for the most part. But the thing about witches and wizards, especially one who was no doubt a supporter of blood supremacy like Moses was, was that they often forget that Muggles were capable of developing lethal weapons as well.

Not that what she was looking for was intended to be lethal, but it would have to do in this case.

It was almost a minute before Francesca could finally locate the syringe inside her pocket. By then, Moses had dragged her towards the doorway, her body positioned in front of him like a human shield. James and the other auror circled around him, on guard but not daring to make any sudden movements lest Moses acted on his word. His grip on her neck was still unbearably tight, but Francesca had enough presence of mind to uncap the needle, pulled it out of her pocket and stabbed it straight into Moses' thigh.

The effect was instantaneous. Francesca felt Moses' hand going slack around her neck and moments later, he had dropped down on the floor, eyes rolling to the back of his head. If she was honest, Francesca felt like collapsing herself.

"What---?!" the auror started, but his words were cut off by James, who had strode towards Francesca and put his hands on her shoulders, steadying her. She welcomed his touch, if only for a moment.

"Francesca, are you okay?" he asked, a frantic note in his voice. The other auror looked surprised at James' use of her first name, but James paid his partner no mind. His eyes strayed to her throat and his scowl deepened. "Merlin, your neck…there's…I should get a Healer."

Francesca gently shook her shoulders from his hands, feeling the skin from where he touched burning under her robes. She didn't want him like this - worrying about her, touching her, steadying her - not when she deserved none of it.

"Auror Potter, please…" she murmured, trying to say her words as calmly as she could. "I'm fine. I don't need to see a Healer. I am a Healer."

"Healer Wood, if you don't mind me asking…what did you do to him?" the other auror asked. Francesca turned to him, glad to have something else to focus on instead of James burning gaze.

"I gave him a Sedating Solution through the syringe." At the look of confusion on his face, she added, "It's a Muggle Medical Device. I've found that it works quite well when I have to administer something straight to the blood stream. And well…in situations like this."

"Ah…"

"Something like this shouldn't have happened," James spoke up, having distanced himself from Francesca. "Our apologies, Healer Wood."

"It's…it's okay," she managed, even though she felt anything but okay. Francesca reasoned that it was understandable that she was shaken up by the ordeal - she had never had to experience something like this before - but that was no reason to break down when she was working. There would be time for that later, in the privacy of her apartment.

Away from James' searching eyes, for he was the last person that she wanted to see her when she was weak.

_Tbc_.


	2. Two

The news of her brief hostage situation with Moses had spread around St. Mungo's like wild fire. Since Moses' identity was kept tightly under wraps, no one knew that he was guarded day and night by the aurors, nor that he had taken her in order to escape. A nurse had walked by as Moses dragged Francesca to the door, so the rumour was that she was attacked by a patient who was, quite possibly, off his rockers.

"Lucky you were able to think of the syringe, Franny," Andrea remarked the next time they had a shift together.

"Lucky one was in my pocket at the time," Francesca muttered, thinking of the many ways that situation could have gone wrong. Moses could have used a little too much force and her life would be squeezed out of her. She could have failed to remember the syringe and he would have dragged her off to who knew where.

It was no use to think of all the things that could have happened, though, when they would forever remain to be what-if's. The fact was that she had escaped, unscathed for the most part, and Moses was now moved to a different room with tighter security. The aurors had made sure that his limbs were secured before the staff performed any sort of check-ups on him. They had even put a spell on him that would knock him out if he left the room without authorization.

All in all, they had done everything they could to ensure that what had happened to her wouldn't happen again.

Still, Francesca couldn't shake the fear that had wormed its way into her heart. She was no auror, she was not used to putting her life on the line. Danger to her was the dropping of heart beats in the surgery room or the uncontrollable spams of the bodies of the patients brought into the ER. The rush and the fear that she felt was for other people - people whose lives depended on her - not for herself.

Privately, Francesca thought she was a coward for feeling this way.

What bothered her even more than her apparent lack of bravery, was the fact that she had let Moses got the better of her in the first place. It was her fault, wasn't it? Francesca knew why he was injured, why he was constantly guarded by a team of aurors. But it was too easy to think of him as only another patient when he was lying there in that bed, dressed in the hospital gown she had grown so accustomed to.

So she had let her guard down. Had stupidly hovered her wand so close to where he could grab it. If she was honest with herself, Francesca could even say that she had basically offered the opportunity for Moses on a silver platter. She had been an idiot, and had the bruise to prove it.

Perhaps she had grown too complacent, living in this era of prolonged peace. The two years had almost made her forgot the nights she stayed up, anxiously waiting for James to come home, and the many instances where she had to patch him up and cleaned his blood that stained the floor after a bad raid. That was the reality that peace had, and always would be, an illusion.

But even then, being at St. Mungo's had felt different. They were raging battles here, to be sure, but it was a different kind of battle altogether. Certainly, it had never involved her having to use her medical knowledge not to heal someone, but to subdue the person. The thought had crossed Francesca's mind when she retrieved the syringe from Moses' thigh and she had felt sick with herself. It had gone against every single oath she had taken as a Healer, but she knew that it was necessary.

That was the worst part - that she did not regret her action and knew she would do so again if she was ever caught up in a similar situation. She wasn't proud of what she had done and the way her colleagues talked about it as if Francesca was some kind of hero didn't help.

"Man, I don't think I'd be able to think straight if it was me. Crazy stuff, that," Blake chimed in, shaking his head. He had been at the salon during the weekends and now, instead of the turquoise that Francesca had grown accustomed to, his hair was a bright purple.

"I'd have been scared out of my wits," an apprentice, Sydney Hawthrone, said. "You were really brave, Franny."

"It's Healer Wood to you, Apprentice Hawthrone!" Francesca snapped, Sydney's words having been the last straw.

Didn't her colleagues have better things to do than sit around and had idle chats?

The room around her fell quiet, so silent that they could hear a pin drop. Andrea, Blake, Sydney - they all stared at her, wide-eyed, having never witnessed Francesca having any sort of outburst before.

"I…I'm…I'm sorry, Healer Wood!" Sydney stammered, ducking her head down.

Francesca sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…I'm just tired, that's all, but that's no excuse."

"We understand, Franny," Andrea said quietly.

"I need to get back to work," she murmured, and ducked out of the staff room.

* * *

The streets were quiet by the time Francesca made her way back to her flat. Even when she had changed out of her soiled robes and did a quick Scourgify, Francesca knew that she smelled distinctly of blood and sweats. It had been a particularly taxing day at St. Mungo's, with three emergencies and one death. She had little energy left for walking, but she didn't trust herself to be in the right state of mind to apparate without splinching.

On days like this, it felt like there was no point in her being a Healer, not when for every person that she nursed back to good health, there was bound to be twice more injured and dead. Years ago, Francesca had thought, naively, that after a certain point she wouldn't react so strongly to the patients that she lost while trying to save them.

But that was so far removed from the truth that Francesca couldn't help but scoff at her younger self. Five years on and she could say that she remembered the face of every single patient that had died under her care. They stayed lodged in that hollow place inside her heart and occasionally emerged in her nightmares, asking her over and over again why she had failed.

Francesca knew that she could not succumb to this feeling of inadequacy. She had done everything she could, but even the best Healer couldn't save everyone. She knew that, but when she had to be the one to tell the people outside - wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, children \- that their loved ones were gone forever, it was difficult to believe she was worthy enough to be saving other people's lives.

As she neared her building, she heard a rustle behind her and felt the presence of someone approaching her fast. Acting on pure instinct, Francesca turned around and barely had time to cast a shield to protect herself against the oncoming curse. The force of the impact threw her backwards and her back hit against a lamp post. Her wand flew out of her hand and landed a few feet away.

"What the fuck!" Francesca hissed out between gasps. She could feel the pain radiating from her back and hoped to Merlin that nothing important had been broken. "Who the hell are you?!"

The looming figure did not reply. Instead, he or she threw out another curse and this time, Francesca was forced to roll to the side, barely escaping the explosion that ensured. Rocks and shards of…whatever it was hit her body. Francesca coughed from the dust and smoke, picking herself up from the ground.

"You bloody nutter!" she groaned.

It was a woman, Francesca could see it now under the moonlight. She was clad in dark robes and had her eyes trained on Francesca.

"I won't miss next time," the woman threatened, her voice barely above a whisper but was enough to give Francesca shivers all the same. "So for your sake, I suggest you start talking, Healer!"

"Talk about what?!" Francesca barked, and then something hit her. "Wait, why do you know---argh!"

The woman was nothing more than a dark blur as she slammed Francesca against the lamp post. Francesca let out another groan at the impact the cold metal made against her abused back.

"Shut up! I'm the one doing the questioning here, not you!" the woman hissed, pointing her wand threateningly at Francesca. "Now, if you value your life, you will tell me where Gabe Moses is in St. Mungo's."

Francesca stilled. It made sense now - why the woman had known about her being a Healer, why she was being attacked in the middle of the street. Francesca was willing to bet that this woman worked for the same people that Moses did and they wanted him before the aurors had a chance to question him properly. St. Mungo's was much easier to break into than the Auror HQ.

They can't know, was the first thought that surfaced in her mind at the realization. She couldn't let this woman know. So much was at stake here and Francesca would be damned if she was the one to ruin all the effort the aurors had made.

So, even though she knew she would be in a world of pain, Francesca did the only thing she could think of. She gave the woman a sardonic smile.

"Patient information is protected by a confidentiality agreement. Unless you're his guardian, I'm afraid you'll have to shove it!"

The woman growled. "Fine, be that way! I thought I could make it easier for you…but you're practically asking for it!"

Then, she threw Francesca to the ground. Her head hit against the cobbler stone and Francesca had no doubt that she would have a nasty concussion. The only good thing was that she was now within arm's reach of her wand. She just needed to find the right moment to make a grab for it.

The woman grabbed a fistful of Francesca's hair and jerked her head up before whispering into her ears, "Don't say I haven't tried to spare you, wench! Crucio!"

There was a gut-wrenching scream and Francesca was horrified to realize that it belonged to her. The burst of courage that she had felt when she defied the woman had not prepared her for this. Pain like she had never experienced before hit her. Every fibre of her body felt like it was on fire and then was rolled through a sea of sharp knives. Her entire mind was reduced to a single thought: make it stop, make it stop, MAKE IT STOP!

And finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the pain ebbed away, leaving her a twitching mess of skin and tears on the ground. The woman peered down at her, a cruel smile twisting her lips.

"Feeling talkative yet?"

Francesca opened her mouth, but she could not manage a sound. Her throat was hoarse from screaming.

"Well?" the woman prodded her with her wand. "Or do you want a repeat performance?"

"Pl---please…" Francesca begged, feeling tears spilling down her face. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see her wand just inches away.

Just keep it up for a bit longer, she told herself, discreetly trying to inch towards her wand. The woman was too busy leering at her face to notice the movement of her hand.

"Pathetic," the woman scoffed. "But of course, I shouldn't have expected anything less. Healers are a bunch of wimps, after all. Now, tell me, where is Moses?"

"It…it hurts…" she stammered. Just a bit closer, she was almost there.

The woman back-handed her and Francesca's face jerked to one side. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.

"You stupid bitch! Tell me where Moses is!"

"Okay…okay…he's…" Francesca stopped, feeling her fingers closed around her wand. A triumphant smirk blossomed on her face. "He's where you people would never be able to reach him, you bitch! Stupefy!" 

The woman flew back and landed on the ground a few feet away, out cold. Francesca slumped on her back, numb with relief.

It's over, it's over, it's over, she chanted inside her mind, but her fingers wouldn't stop shaking. She wondered how much time had passed and if anyone else was alerted to the confrontation (she lived in a Muggle neighborhood). All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and close her eyes, but she forced herself to stay alert. She couldn't stay out here, not when the woman might have an accomplice waiting close by.

It took every ounce of strength for Francesca to haul her body up, pain lacing through her flesh with every movement. She limped towards the door and dragged herself up the three flights of stairs as quick as her condition would allow, hand gripping her wand tightly. Blood trickled from the wound on head down over her face, but she paid it no mind. The only thought that she had right now was to get to her flat (where she had set up a few protection wards out of old habit) and called for help.

"Alohomora!" she muttered, not bothering to try searching for her keys. The door flew open, revealing a dark flat with patches of light filtering in from outside. Her first instinct was to go inside, but the voice inside her head (that sounded suspiciously like James) reminded her to make sure that no one was there.

"Homenum revelio!" she mentally chanted and waited.

Nothing.

Francesca limped inside, body still tightly coiled. She quickly casted a Patronus and sent it to the Auror HQ. They had people there at all hours, so hopefully someone would get her message.

With that done, she collapsed on the nearest couch, groaning in pain as she did so. Dizziness threatened to pull her under, but she knew that she needed to stay awake. She most likely had a concussion and in no condition to heal herself.

And she had no idea if she was truly safe.

"Stay awake, Francesca," she mumbled. "Stay awake."

The silence dragged on for what felt like hours. Francesca fought to keep her eyes open, but it was a battle that she was quickly losing. The pain, the blood loss, the dizziness all worked to pull her under and no amount of medical training was enough to help her stay awake.

I'll just close my eyes for one second, she thought to herself, just one second. 

And then there was darkness.

_Tbc._


End file.
